Popular “smoking” articles, such as cigarettes, have a substantially cylindrical, rod-shaped structure and include a charge, roll or column of smokable material such as shredded tobacco in cut filler form) surrounded by a paper wrapper thereby forming a so-called “tobacco rod.” Normally, a cigarette has a cylindrical filter element aligned in an end-to-end relationship with the tobacco rod. Typically, a filter element comprises plasticized cellulose acetate tow circumscribed by a paper material known as “plug wrap.” Typically, the filter element is attached to one end of the tobacco rod using a circumscribing wrapping material known as “tipping paper.” A cigarette is employed by a smoker by lighting one end thereof and burning the tobacco rod. The smoker then receives mainstream smoke into his/her mouth by drawing on the opposite end (e.g., the filter end) of the cigarette. Other smoking articles include cigars or the burning of loose tobacco through a pipe.
Cigarettes conventionally have been sold in packages, each package normally containing twenty (20) cigarettes. Typical cigarette packages have a generally rectangular parallelepiped form. One type of popular cigarette package employs a container having the form of a so-called “hard pack,” “crush proof box” or “hinged lid package.” Such a package may include a lower base (e.g., receptacle) portion and a hinged upper lid portion. These types of packages are typically formed from cardboard blanks that include various panels and flaps, which when folded form the lower base portion and the upper lid portion. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,581 to Fox et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,944,066 to Niepmann, U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,734 to Allen et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,986 to Cobler; as well as European Pat. 0392737 to Moeller; and U.S. Pat. Pub. Nos. 2008/0230410 to Jones et al., 2010/0248926 to Pipes et al., and 2011/0042249 to Guerrera et al., each of which is incorporated herein by reference. Another type of popular cigarette package employs a container having the form of the so-called “soft pack.” See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,422 to Tripodi, U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,017 to Sprinkel, Jr., et al., and, U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,729 to Wolfe; each of which is incorporated herein by reference. These conventional cigarette packages are generally configured to maintain the freshness and moisture content of the cigarettes, and to protect the cigarettes from adverse environmental conditions that could degrade their freshness and quality. These packages may include a laminate packaging component for barrier-sealed cigarettes including a foil layer, such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,745 to Langley, and/or an outer film wrap of a type described by in U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,529 to Hein, each of which is incorporated herein by reference. Both types of cigarette packages are normally packed in cartons also of generally rectangular parallelepiped form, typically ten (10) packages to a carton.
In addition to maintaining the freshness and quality of the product, such packages may be utilized to communicate information to a consumer. For instance, graphics and text are typically applied to the exterior of the package to communicate various information regarding the product, including branding, advertising, regulatory information, nutritional information, and promotional information. Conventional cigarette packages are often relatively small in size and may have a limited visible exterior surface area for providing information. Thus, the information that may be provided via the available display surfaces may also be limited. Cigarette packages having additional display surfaces for communicating product information are known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,020,697 to Chatelain, U.S. Pat. No. 8,418,845 to Tawada et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 8,413,805 to Bray et al.; and PCT Pub. No. 2010/055312 to Griffiths et al., each of which is incorporated herein by reference.
It may be desirable to develop more attractive packaging for cigarettes, providing both visual and tactile attractiveness for consumers. In addition, it may be desirable to provide packaging that increases product quality and freshness.